Chapter Text
Hamato Yoshi was used to being in a cage. Figuratively of course. Raised in his house for his younger years there were always things he had to be doing. Whether it was training to be ready to defeat the Shredder, or studying about the Shredder, or preparing his weapons for the Shredder he was always kept busy. Truth be told every time he heard that ever present word he cringed internally. He lost his mother to fighting the damn ancient being, and now he had lost the majority of his life to it. It sure felt like a cage to him. And as he became a movie actor and took on the role of Lou Jitsu, the cage seemed to get bigger, but not by much. He was still stuck in his trailer during movie takes, still told where to go and what to do. It was a wonder he hadn’t gone insane at this point.
Then he got into a relationship. He had finally felt free, picking where the two of them would go, and making her laugh and seeing her smile. Hanging out with this new woman had been life changing for him, a breath of fresh air. But nothing in Hamato Yoshi’s life seemed to stay the same for too long. He had never even considered that his girlfriend, who he only knew as Big Mama, was more than what she seemed. He had fallen head over heels for the woman, and any warning signs had gone over his head. Up until the day he proposed, and she had turned into a giant spider thing known as a Yokai and kidnapped him. He was trapped in a cage, this time literally. His day consisted of fighting in her Battle Nexus, winning, then going back in the blasted cage. She still gave him food, and water, kept him in stylish clothes. She even told him she still loved him. But he was back in a cage.
Then he was kidnapped again. It was getting to the point he was convinced he was cursed. It was around the time he had decided he was through fighting, that he wouldn’t let Big Mama use him from her twisted game. He hadn’t fought for a couple weeks when he was confronted by tiny black gargoyles. They had asked him if he would like to be kidnapped, which was strange on its own, but they still took him to a new cell. A new cage. And a new keeper. This one's name was Barron Draxum. He wasn’t as nice as Big Mama. This cage was much smaller, he had to stay hunched over in this cage. There was an upside to this specific cage though. For the first time, he wasn’t alone.
The first day in the cage wasn’t that bad. Draxum didn’t talk to him, so he spent the day alone meditating quietly. Then in the middle of the evening Draxum shoved in a small metal wide tray into the cage with no words. Lou Jitsu watched the tray in confusion as it seemed to wiggle around. He shimmed over to it and looked into the tray. What was inside made him gasp in shock. Inside were four small turtles, they all looked small and young, so young. The biggest one was guarding the others.
“Have they been together since they were born?” He asked, breaking the silence that seemed to last forever.
Draxum scoffed and turned around, not answering. The two gargoyles on his shoulders jumped off and flew up to the bars on the cage.
“We don’t know!” The first one said as he shrugged his shoulders, “But they’ve been together since we’ve had them so… maybe that's the same thing?”
“And you two are?” He asked, looking from one to the other. The first one took a bow from his place on the bar, while the second applauded him, “My name is Huginn.”
The second one stopped clapping to wave, “And I’m Muninn.”
Hamato Yoshi nodded as he turned his attention back to the tray to examine the turtles. Huginn spoke up again pointing to one in the center of the tray, “That one right there? That’s a snapping turtle! He’s the biggest one, I think he’s the oldest.” The turtle seemed to be trying to guard the others from the shadow Hamato was casting. So to help, he tilted his head to rid it from the tray.
Muninn pointed to another one with a blue shell, “Then there’s that one with red stripes over his eyes. He’s a red eyed slider turtle! He’s a prankster. Very funny. He can spin on his shell!” This turtle was trying very hard to get out of the tray, even though he couldn’t seem to make it. He was determined though.
Huginn grabbed Hamato’s face and turned it to one that’s on his stomach, seeming to be asleep, “That’s a softshell turtle! He’s got a soft shell,” The gargoyle shrugged his shoulders, “you know like the name says. He’s very smart though. He figured out how to get out so keep an eye on him!”
“And that’s the baby!” Muninn said again, waving to the last one, curled into his shell. “He’s a box shell and he likes to hide in it, his shell I mean. He’s tiny but don’t worry! Big boy likes to make sure he eats so it all works out! He puts little apple slices by his shell. It’s the cutest thing ever and-”
There was a snap in the distance and all heads turned to see Draxum with his hand up looking at the two gargoyles.
“Oh gotta go!”
“Buh-bye!”
They both called as they flew off. And soon as they landed, Draxum had left the side of the room where he could be seen. The way the cage was positioned was that Lou Jitsu was stuck in what looked like a small pod with green bars in the center of the room. So whenever Draxum began to walk about he would go behind where Lou Jitsu was, and couldn’t be seen, which meant he was basically alone.
Now by himself with the turtles he decided to get a better look at them. He carefully and slowly picked up the snapping turtle and held him in his hands.
“Hello little one. Aren’t you cute?” He said with a small smile as he moved him onto one hand. The turtle looked up at Lou Jitsu for a couple of seconds, taking the new face in. Then he turned and bit his finger. Lou Jitsu gasped in surprise as he pulled his finger back maneuvering the small turtle to the other hand, “Well you’ve got a powerful bite don’t you!” He shook his finger to numb the pain and looked from the one in his hand to the rest of the turtles with a concerned look, “Oh, how can I tell you turtles apart?”
He looked back over to the turtle in his hand to see him munching on the end of his glove. “That’s a good idea little one!”
Searching inside his outfit pocket he was disappointed to find there was no pen to be found. He looked around the room for other creatures.
“Hello. Muffin?”
“Munnin” The other one called as he flew by and sat down on the bar. “And I'm Huginn.”
“R-right.” Was all he could say as the gargoyle dabbed in front of him. “Do you have a pen I could use?”
“Do I have a pen? Well I don't have pockets so no. Hey Munnin!”
“Yea?” He called from somewhere Lou Jitsu could not see.
“Do you have a pen?”
“Why would I have a pen?”
“I don't know? He asked me too, why would I have a pen?”
“I don't know, why would you have a pen?”
“Good question!" He turned back to Lou Jitsu. "Why do you think I would have a pen?”
“Enough!” A new voice boomed from the side. It was Draxum, Lou Jitsu realized. His voice was low and loud, like an old speaker that amplified the bass tone. “Take it.”
Lou Jitsu watched as a pen was flung from the left and hit the gargoyle in the center of the head. Huginn flew backwards and tried to steady himself with his wings. He twirled in a circle before he finally corrected himself with the pen in hand.
“Here's the pen!” He said triumphantly as he handed it over. Then he jumped up, “Bye again Lou Jitsu!” He called as he flew back out of sight.
Lou Jitsu looked from where the creature left then back to the turtle in his hand. The spiky turtle was still chewing on the excess of his glove, and he wasn’t sure but it almost looked like the turtle was glaring at him. Lou Jitsu smiled and set the pen down as he gently scratched the shell of the turtle. The glare instantly dropped and he almost seemed to smile.
“I’m not sure what to call you just yet little one.” He remarked as he gently set him back down. He turned to the smallest turtle still in his shell.
“You however.” He picked up the little guy much to the dismay of the other turtles who all watched the youngest one carefully, “Would you like to come out and play?”
Lou Jitsu examined the shell. It had two orange circles on it with little dots sprinkled around it.
“You like orange?” He asked as he looked at the opening of the shell. The tiny turtle's head poked out just slightly. “I know it’s a little scary, but I’ve got you.” He gave the turtle a smile as he gently rubbed his finger up and down the underside of the shell. “You’re safe with me.”
The tiny head popped out of the shell. This turtle must have been younger than the others, he was so small. He blinked his eyes as he looked up at Lou Jitsu. Lou Jitsu couldn’t stop the smile that spread as the turtle looked at him. He must be crazy to be so attached to small creatures he had just met, but he had been alone for so long, just like these turtles. They were similar in that way.
“You have a very artistic shell. I can tell you will be quite creative, and I hope you will also be happy. You look like orange will suit you just fine.”
He looked at the outer fabric of the costume he was wearing. The one he was in when he had been kidnapped was his fighting suit. Orange gloves and collar that connected right under his pecs. There were blue long sleeves and pants and white shoes. The torso had orange fabric that cascaded over his shoulder almost to his elbow so it would move freely when he fought. He put the small turtle in his lap and slowly ripped part of his collar, pulling off a small, thin, rectangle. Picking back up his pen he looked from the turtle to the orange fabric.
“Michelangelo sounds like a good name.” He looked at the turtle, “Probably difficult for you to say though. How about Mikey for now? That will fit easier as well.” He put the fabric on the ground and as neatly as he could, wrote down Mikey.
Then he gently picked the turtle back up and wrapped the orange fabric around him like a sash. “There! Now I know orange is Mikey!” He smiled at the turtle as he put him back in the tray. The other turtles looked at the sash as Mikey started to walk around, as if showing it off. The other turtles looked up at Lou Jitsu, almost expectantly.
“Oh, of course.” He said as he looked around the cage for more colors. He put his hand to his chin as he thought if over, then it hit him. He had been given a handkerchief from Big Mama after his first victory. He withdrew it from his pocket and looked it over. Purple. Which turtle would look the best in purple? He overlooked the turtles as they all stared up at him. He noticed small purple marks on the softshell’s legs. They were small, and could honestly be black seeing as how the light in the cage wasn’t too reliable. However after he saw it he could not unsee it.
Gently he picked up the softshell. He looked over the turtle, as the turtle seemed to examine him as well. “You have intelligent eyes. I can see it.” He smiled at the turtle. “Purple is a royal color you know, and I think it will suit you best. Now a name.” He put the turtle on his leg as he thought it over, picking up the pen and tapping it on his chin. He watched as the turtle looked over at the others in the tray, eyeing them carefully. “A smart thinker with a kind heart.” Lou Jitsu muttered with a grin. “Donatello. That won’t fit on this though. How about Donnie?”
He nodded to himself as he tore the handkerchief to be smaller and wrote Donnie down. He went to put the fabric on like Mikey’s and stopped halfway. “I don’t want to irritate your shell.” He muttered to Donnie, as if he needed to explain himself to the turtle. He wrapped the fabric around his finger over and over again before tying it gently around the turtles right arm. “That should work, can you still walk normally?” He asked as he set Donnie back in the tray. Donnie walked around easily then laid back down and sighed, as if that was the most draining thing he had done all day.
He looked from the last two turtles to his pants. Blue. He looked at the snapping turtle who was very interested in the orange fabric on Mikey. He poked it with his head, then looked at Mikey who spun in place. The red eared slider was on his hind legs smacking the side of the tray, trying to get his attention.
“Do you like blue?” He asked as he picked up the turtle. “I think a darker blue would suit better, but this is what I have for now.” He looked over the turtle as the turtle started looking around the room, and now at him.
“You’re quite adventurous aren’t you? Do you want to go outside the cage?” He asked the turtle, who of course, did not reply. “You are quite clever, getting the praise of those two gargoyles with your antics. You seem to like the attention, don't you?” He smiled at the turtle as he finally turned and looked at him. “A comical turtle with competent eyes. Leonardo.” The turtle seemed to like the name as he turned to the pen which was on the ground.
He tore from the cuffs of his pants, and grimaced as the tear did not go as smoothly as he wanted, cutting it shorter than he wanted. “Leo will have to do, for now.” He said as he wrote it down. He twirled it and tied it gently as he carefully poked the turtle’s head through it, like a scarf.
“There you go Leo!” He said happily as he put the turtle back in the tray as Leo began to munch on his new scarf.
Lastly he looked at the snapping turtle. What color would work with this one? He was running out of options. He changed his position to get a better look at the turtles and blinked as a new color hit his peripherals. His red, Hot Soup! Socks. How could he forget about those? He took off his shoe and examined the sock. Red! He turned back to the snapping turtle, who was examining the new articles on the other turtles. Carefully, Lou Jitsu picked him up.
“You are quite the caretaker aren’t you? Wanting to keep the other’s safe?” He looked at his free hand, to the finger the turtle had bit, which still had a small sting to it. “And with such a powerful bite. You must be a fighter through and through. But only for what you believe in.” He smiled as he rubbed the turtle's back. “Quite honorable aren’t you?” He set the turtle down on his leg as he tore the end of the sock off, trying to keep it from tearing too early again. “Raphael would suit you well. Raph.” He said with a nod as he wrote it down and maneuvered it around the spikes on his back, setting it like a belt. “What do you think?” He asked Raph, who looked from him to the others, then back to him.
“Oh alright I’ll put you back.” He said with a chuckle as he set him back down in the tray.